Fantastic summer festival will celebrate great city of Chichester

Phil Hewitt

Chairman Phil Hewitt said: “We are proud to present our most exciting and diverse programme yet, a bumper something-for-everyone package which will offer a four-week celebration of the city we are so proud to call our own. It all started with a public meeting in late 2012. Since then, we have been delighted to pull together an annual month-long arts and community extravaganza featuring all the performers, writers, artists, thinkers, groups, clubs, associations, choirs and orchestras that make Chichester so rich and vibrant a city.

“Our festival has become a true reflection of Chichester’s cultural importance, and we are thrilled that over the years we have also started to entice an increasingly-attractive range of artists and performers from further afield, all keen to see just what it is that makes Chichester so special.”

Festival co-ordinator Barry Smith added: “We’re delighted to present the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra in the Cathedral performing Elgar and Sibelius. There’s a super series of free lunchtime concerts, also in the Cathedral, featuring international musicians Victor Ryabchikov and Patrick Hemmerle, plus the Hanover Band in St. John’s and the Parnassian Ensemble at St Pancras Church. Our festival now stands comparison with the very best.

“Poetry lovers will be thrilled to hear the poetry of Frieda Hughes, daughter of two of the most iconic poets of the 20th century, Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath.

“Spoken word is very strong this year, with star of stage and screen Dame Patricia Routledge in conversation, top authors Peter Robinson and Lisa Hilton, and a national launch from Sussex author Juliet West. There are brilliant exhibitions at Pallant House Gallery, Oxmarket and Candida Stevens Fine Art and exciting theatre, including the Rude Mechanicals at Halnaker, a world premiere of Greg Mosse’s A Chichester Murder Mystery and a colourful Entertaining Angels at West Dean.”